Prompting the Payload: How an npm Supply Chain Attack Delivers the RedC2 AI-Powered Linux Implant

TrendAI Research discovered a supply-chain compromise where multiple trojanized npm packages, published as legitimate date/math utilities, bundle and auto-execute a Linux ELF implant identified as RedShell (the RedC2 4.0 Linux implant). The loader runs on simple import (bypassing install hooks and --ignore-scripts), verifies a hardcoded SHA-256, makes the binary executable, and spawns it detached; the RedShell implant provides broad post-exploitation capabilities (interactive shell, credential and SSH key collection, fileless ELF/shellcode execution via memfd/mmap, SOCKS5 and port-forwarding pivots, plaintext HTTP exfiltration) and is integrated with an AI assistant (Red Agent) that translates natural-language prompts into chained commands; the report includes IoCs, C2 IPs (217.60.77.63), hashes, and hunting queries.